Almond Sauce Stir-Fry

Eileen, over at Ham, Pie, Sandwiches, has been preparing for a product release the past few weeks and, with the insanity of long and stressful work days, has been posting quite a few ‘emergency recipes.’ Her recipes (like these amazing looking baked flounder and pasta recipes) look far better than anything I manage to throw together, but she got me to thinking about what my ‘emergency recipes’ might be.

Normally weekends are a time when I can kick back and spend some serious time in the kitchen cooking a dinner or two, but this weekend I spent the bulk of it prepping Thanksgiving dishes (two pies, two side dishes, preparing all the elements of the dressing–we’re going out of town and G’s mother’s kitchen is impossible to work in) and running around finishing up some freelance projects before the holidays. Didn’t even have time to watch the Falcons barely win their game this Sunday. Now that’s really saying something. So while we ended up eating out far more than we wanted to, I did manage to chuck some veggies and tofu in the wok and whisk up this almond sauce to make an at-home meal for one or two nights. It’s the little things that count sometimes.

A riff on the typical peanut sauce, this is G’s favorite stir-fry since he’s allergic to peanuts and hadn’t ever eaten a non-peanut sauce before I showed up. (I’m sure other nut or non-nut butters would work well too.) These days I rarely measure anything, but I did my best to pay attention and get the recipe down. Feel free to add, subtract anything to taste–as long as it hits the mark before you add it to the vegetables, then it will be rockin in the wok. And the best part? You can use whatever vegetables you have in your fridge. This week’s batch? Bok choi, tofu, mushrooms, zucchini (local from a farmer’s greenhouse!). I’m a sucker for interchangeability–that and giant one or two pot meals!

In a serving cup, whisk together the almond butter, soy sauce, vinegar, almond milk, and Sriracha. Once it is well combined, add the garlic and ginger. Set aside.

In a wok, heat the coconut oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, 3 minutes. Add the tofu and mushrooms. Cook 3 minutes. Add the zucchini and bok choi, cook another 3-5 minutes, until everything is tender but not mushy.

Add the sauce to the stir-fry and stir to combine. Cook 1 minute until everything is coated and the sauce has thickened slightly.

Comments

Aw, thanks! Of course, also notice that I am not posting the roughly 50 burritos, tacos, or bowls of rice and refried beans that I’ve also eaten in the past month. And it will be worth it when I finally upload all my classes to their server TODAY. For real. Yay! Anyway. That stir-fry looks both great And fast! I don’t think I’ve made a non-peanut nut sauce either, actually, so I’m excited to try this one out. (And I do have a friend with a severe peanut allergy! But a whole bunch of different nuts are out for her, so it’s best to just abort entirely.)

Such a great idea! Whenever I buy a jar of almond butter of a specific recipe, I tend to find myself at a loss for how to use the rest. Nothing ever seems quite worth it… But this is just the ticket. Stir fries are always welcome here, and adding a rich nut-based sauce like this sounds like it would make the meal a good deal heartier/more satisfying. Perfect for busy, stressful, or hectic days, indeed!

Well, what do you know? I have rice cooking in the rice cooker right now, with hazy plans of a stir fry to use up the dry spiced tofu in my fridge and some of the veggies before we leave for Thanksgiving in Charleston…I think I’m going to use that almond sauce recipe tonight!

I feel you Jes, I feel you so much. I wish I could have written down the recipe for what I made today, but it’s kind of the southeast asian version of this exact idea. Some roux made with olive oil and flour, plus red wine, milk, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, crab paste, water greens, eggplant, bamboo shoot, cilantro, lime, peanuts… ate it with rice. I know, it sounds like a crazy mix, but it has the same feeling as almond sauce!

I miss almond butter, and if I had some, I’d be making this recipe, like, tomorrow!